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Teachable Moments

How to…

(For my regular readers, this is a communications assignment for a college class, so thank you for checking it out anyway!)

I am going to write about how to cook meat such as pork chops and chicken breasts. It seems like an easy task to cook meat, but if anybody could mess up cooking, it was me. I used to be so afraid to under-cook meat that it would be so dry and over cooked that nobody could enjoy it; even my husband who is willing to eat anything!

So let’s get started.

First of all, you take your meat out around half an hour to an hour before you cook it if it is pork chops. Pork chops tend to curl up (I like the thin ones.) if they are too cold when you place them in the pan. You do not need to do this with chicken breasts.

I like to season my meat on the platter/plate before I place it in the pan.

Next you heat your pan between a medium and medium high heat. After it warms up, you pour some oil of your choice into the pan. I mostly cook with extra virgin olive oil, but sometimes I do use coconut oil. After this, you place your meat seasoned side down into the pan. This way you can now season the side of the meat that was previously laying face down and you won’t have to worry about forgetting to season the other side of your meat after you turn it.

This next step is so important. You should not have to keep lifting the meat to see if it is cooked enough before you flip it. I was once told that you can smell when the meat is done on one side. Pay attention to the smell as you cook your meat. You begin to smell the seasoning and browning of the meat once it is cooked on one side.

The final thing you do is flip your meat once your nose has told you the meat is ready to be flipped. (Don’t worry, this smell thing took me a few tries!)

Once the second side is fully cooked, you place meat on your tray and serve it with whatever you choose to.

Congratulations! You have just achieved something it took me several years to understand.